Hijack a ship?

Welcome to Cruise Critic! If you'd like to participate on our forums by joining in the conversation, please Register Now! Be sure to visit our FAMOUS Roll Call forums, where you can meet other cruisers sailing with you and share a tour or shore excursion and SAVE MONEY!

I would think a few armed with some steak house knives wouldnt due much damage. On a ship there are 1000s places to hide and once word gets out of executions something would be done to take back the ship. To herd 3000 people at once does not seem possible. I think after 9/11 people are more aware and willing to take charge. .

Originally posted by Antloe
I would think a few armed with some steak house knives wouldnt due much damage. On a ship there are 1000s places to hide and once word gets out of executions something would be done to take back the ship. To herd 3000 people at once does not seem possible. I think after 9/11 people are more aware and willing to take charge. .

The way the article reads, I wouldn't think that some knives would be their plan. With a plane, it's a closed tube in the air...no way on once in transit. So getting weapons on board aplane is relatively hard. With the cruise ship, they could easily board anytime with a helicopter, or a boat with the right gear. They would come packing real arms and probably have operatives already on board as passengers or crew to help them get on board smoothly. They could also just charge up the passenger ramp and seize the boat fully armed at one of the ports of call. I don't exactly see armed guards packed around the terminals in the Bahamas or Key West. They would have no need to capture all of the pasengers, just a few hundred people and a few key areas of the ship. With no desire to get out of the mission intact, taking over a ship would not be that hard with some decent firepower and a good number of people.

Originally posted by crewsnews
The way the article reads, I wouldn't think that some knives would be their plan. With a plane, it's a closed tube in the air...no way on once in transit. So getting weapons on board aplane is relatively hard. With the cruise ship, they could easily board anytime with a helicopter, or a boat with the right gear. They would come packing real arms and probably have operatives already on board as passengers or crew to help them get on board smoothly. They could also just charge up the passenger ramp and seize the boat fully armed at one of the ports of call. I don't exactly see armed guards packed around the terminals in the Bahamas or Key West. They would have no need to capture all of the pasengers, just a few hundred people and a few key areas of the ship. With no desire to get out of the mission intact, taking over a ship would not be that hard with some decent firepower and a good number of people.

Originally posted by crewsnews
The way the article reads, I wouldn't think that some knives would be their plan. With a plane, it's a closed tube in the air...no way on once in transit. So getting weapons on board aplane is relatively hard. With the cruise ship, they could easily board anytime with a helicopter, or a boat with the right gear. They would come packing real arms and probably have operatives already on board as passengers or crew to help them get on board smoothly. They could also just charge up the passenger ramp and seize the boat fully armed at one of the ports of call. I don't exactly see armed guards packed around the terminals in the Bahamas or Key West. They would have no need to capture all of the pasengers, just a few hundred people and a few key areas of the ship. With no desire to get out of the mission intact, taking over a ship would not be that hard with some decent firepower and a good number of people.

Well if they attempt this with one cruiseline the captain can just run the ship aground and sink it. That would completely foil the terrorist's plans.
Seriously though, the cruiselines more than likely have more security measures in place that we do not see or know about to deal with the potential threats from terrorist's or pirates. Also more than likely a handfull of terrorist versus thousands of passengers on a modern cruiseship would be a bad decision in light of what the passengers on United Flt. 93 did. I think people are more prone to fight back now if in this type of situation were it to occur.

Expand Signature

Collapse Signature

Grandeur of the Seas Dec. 2009Freedom of the Seas Sept. 2010Majesty of the Seas Dec. 2010Freedom of the Seas Oct. 2011Majesty of the Seas Nov. 2011 Monarch of the Seas May 2012Allure of the Seas Sept. 2012Carnival Glory May 2013Allure of the Seas Sept. 2013Majesty of the Seas Sept. 2013Carnival Pride March 2014Allure of the Seas Sept. 2014Carnival Breeze Sept. 2014Carnival Splendor May 2015Carnival Splendor October 2015Majesty of the Seas Dec. 2015Enchantment of the Seas Feb. 2016Majesty of the Seas April 2016Carnival Splendor October 2016Empress of the Seas November 2016Oasis of the Seas Jan. 2017Carnival Vista March 2017

They won't get to do the planes again. The word is out. They bought up most of the tickets so the planes would be releatively empty, leaving a few incredulous passengers to overcome. There are tripwires to red-flag the scenario now.

They're not gonna get to overpower 3500 people on a ship. There will be a few people who will react.

As a former crew member, I can tell you that the bridge of a ship is extremely secure. To gain access to the bridge, you must first pass through a heavy locked door accessible by key cards held by only several high ranking crew members and bridge officers. The door has several cameras focused on it as well as a camera on the door in lieu of a peephole. Through that door there are just a bunch of offices and the cabins of the senior officers. To get to the actual bridge there is a second door that even fewer people have access to.

All that to say that if the bridge were ever actually compromised, the controls can all be overridden by the engine control room as the ship can be controlled from there as well.

Originally posted by Cruisebehindthescenes
As a former crew member, I can tell you that the bridge of a ship is extremely secure. To gain access to the bridge, you must first pass through a heavy locked door accessible by key cards held by only several high ranking crew members and bridge officers. The door has several cameras focused on it as well as a camera on the door in lieu of a peephole. Through that door there are just a bunch of offices and the cabins of the senior officers. To get to the actual bridge there is a second door that even fewer people have access to.

All that to say that if the bridge were ever actually compromised, the controls can all be overridden by the engine control room as the ship can be controlled from there as well.

Seems like a handful compared to the door to cockpit.

Remember Maersk Alabama?
That was when I first learned the engine room can run the ship. I never had any idea that could be done. I always thought only from the bridge. I also learned many ( most ?) Chief Engineers have Master's License.